Most powered personal watercraft use gas motors, which tend to be pretty noisy. That old technology is about to get a challenge from a new breed of watercraft. The Quadrofoil is a hydrofoiling personal craft that runs on electric power. It's not only very quiet, it also doesn't produce emissions. It looks extremely cool, like an alien spacecraft with swooping lines and strange spindly legs (the foils) emerging from the sides and curving down under the hull.

You can fit two people in the Quadrofoil. The innovative watercraft tops out around 25 mph and sports a range of around 54 nautical miles. It only takes two hours to charge it up. Once you crank it up to a speed of just over 7 mph, it rises above the water, appearing to float over the surface, with only the tips of the foils in the lake. The foils act much like an airplane's wings to create lift. The sensation is described as feeling like "flying on water." The designers also claim the vessel is unsinkable thanks to a hollow hull.

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The Quadrofoil has been under development in Slovenia for years, but it has finally reached the preorder stage. As you might imagine, this "sports car for the water" doesn't come cheap.

The lower-powered Q2A model is going for a preorder price of $18,650 (about £11,750, AU$21,635). If you want more range and more oomph, then go for the Q2S limited edition with the bigger motor. It will run you $27,980 (about £17,615, AU$32,445). You get not just the watercraft, but also two life jackets, a paddle (in case you run out of juice in the middle of a lake) and a safety whistle.

The Quadrofoil looks like a lot of fun, like James Bond should be sitting at the controls chasing a bad guy. The promotional video is appropriately bombastic. It promises "a legendary ride above the surface that changes you forever." Sign me up.